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Trump Did Best With Voters Who Did the Worst During His Presidency
Discussion
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I dunno Martin. Certainly I think some of Trump’s gains with Hispanics and Blacks are due to the economy doing pretty well, and the lack of a Dem ground game (which was a bad decision in my opinion) which helped to spread propaganda. It’s true that there are some Obama Trump voters that could be coaxed back with an emphasis on labor unions and monopoly busting in these communities, but I would argue the large turnout is more from QAnon and other far right crazies who rarely voted for Rs but now enthusiastically back Trump. We saw a blue wave… Read more »
I thought your ideas on antitrust were brilliant. Not sure why you’ve stopped talking about it or why Democrats don’t pick up on it in a meaningful way. For a while it looked like Warren might go there but she was half-hearted. She chose to try to steal or split the Sanders vote instead of bringing something unique to the debate. A real shame.
“They probably have to organize them around non- or semi-political issues at first.”
What types of issues did you have in mind? My biggest concern is that the main draw was the naked racism and nothing related to economic anxiety. I’m also curious as to why people like this would genuinely believe DJt is “on their side” when the actual results of the last 4 years completely contradict this.
I also share the concern that probably racism is at the heart of a lot of the appeal, but it cannot probably be more than 40% of the R voters, which means the rest of them are either decided against Liberals because of policies (they just are conservative and would prefer the government not do anything), or because of cultural persuasions. I do think that Martin identifies one of the core problems correctly, which is that the Democratic party is seen as advancing the issues of a white, educated progressive elite in major cities, as opposed to anything that Rural… Read more »
I think that a lot of it comes down to how white progressives frame issues or set them to a narrative. We/they will frame them in lofty scholarly language and terms, rather than just using “common sense” terms for what we want. Social Justice is just a white progressive way of saying we want to treat everyone fairly. It’s almost like white progressives are trying to claim themselves as martyrs for a cause on behalf of whatever minority group by using scholarly phrases rather than just saying “we want to help everyone”. It makes white rural Republicans think we’re coming… Read more »
I agree with every word of that. One thing though, some people actually did (or still DO) want to “Defund the police”, meaning to actually abolish the police entirely! This was just plain stupid, but they got some airtime and the damage was done.
Bingo.
You can bet a lot of those people were “principled progressives” who always seemingly agree with “moderate conservatives” that everything is the Democrat’s fault. Classic ratfucking.
We’ve gotten into a weird place where disadvantaged people don’t count if they hold the wrong political views or belief systems. The left can’t leave people behind who are suffering from lack of health care, massive loss of economic opportunity, an opioid crisis, and the loss of cultural clout. If the left does this, then the result is all organization breaks down in those communities and the vacuum is filled by right-wing populism based on bygone glory and racial grievance. This is fascism, and it leads to more than racial violence. It leads to a disrespect for democratic institutions. It… Read more »
If we’re going to actually go after rural voters, then we have to actually incorporate issues they really care about. I mean, if you can explain to me how the average “rural” voter cares about anti-trust issues, fair enough. But if you’re talking anti-trust with the goal of taking down Wal-Mart and Amazon…again, you’re going to have to explain to me why “rural” people are going to go for that, while you’re still telegraphing that you want to take their AR-15s and give poor black people free stuff. Y’all know rural people? Like, real rural people? My suggestions, knowing rural… Read more »
Repubs have mastered the technique of evading accountability. Where I live, exactly the people who complain most bitterly about the lousy government also seem unaware that their government has been dominated by the GOP for decades. If they don’t like the current circumstances, there is really the GOP to blame for it. But this connection is not made, and repubs instead shift into victim mode, blaming it all on the evil dems, and on any and all minorities. And it doesn’t get any better when you figure that the dems do a poor job of educating about these dynamics.
Sadly, Xochitl Torres Small lost in NM2 even though she did a great job in particular pushing for rural health care, broadband, and even traditional energy jobs in her district. Very disappointing.
I live in NM-2 and I thought Torres Small did a good job at highlighting her emphasis on the rural issues you mentioned. The republicans countered that by portraying Torres Small as some sort of San Francisco hippie liberal (whatever that means) and playing to the wedge issue culture war things that really have no substance other than to stir up people’s emotions. I also think the oil and gas folks know that the days of status quo are numbered and they want someone to blame. Democrats have always been an easy target.
Saying “The racism is the point” blind themselves to the problem and the solution. The problem is the resentment, the grievance. They resent a changing world that no longer revolves around White, Male, No College, Middle Class. They resent not being able to “tell jokes,” or having to press 1 for English or being told which pronouns to use. They see the expansion of rights and opportunities for others as a zero-sum situation. Honestly, the best solution is to simply stop talking about a great many of the issues that are near and dear to the Democratic base. Focus on… Read more »
The protests and especially the “defund” movement became counterproductive about two weeks into June.
People see fires and broken windows and vote Republican.
Aside from my kids, I know my extended family was getting more than a little frustrated with a lot of the defund the police rhetoric, and just became more frustrated as time wore on. We all voted Democratic, but then again our specific candidates down ballot were not wanting to be caught up in that mess. Better training and background checks for police officers? I’m cool with that. Emphasize de-escalation? Cool. There are all sorts of creative ways to reach those desired outcomes. The last Democratic County Sherriff we elected actually did some of that at his particular level. I… Read more »